Davenport beats Venus
NEW YORK — Venus Williams was grunting loudly, Lindsay Davenport was muttering to herself, and 20,000 fans were jumping out of their seats after each point.
A few hours before defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne meekly left the U.S. Open with a loss to Nadia Petrova, Williams and Davenport were locked in a matchup fit for a Grand Slam final, not the fourth round. Especially riveting was the last game.
Seven major titles and 49 weeks at No. 1 between them, Davenport and Williams swapped powerful strokes and anxious moments in a final act encompassing 24 points over 13 minutes Monday. Nine deuces. Five break points for 2000-01 Open champion Williams. Five match points for 1998 Open champ Davenport.
In the end, Davenport was slightly steadier and stronger, pulling out that game to cap a 7-5, 6-4 victory that earned her a spot in the quarterfinals.
It was a fittingly tight way to end the pair’s 25th meeting, never so early in a tournament; they came in 12-all.
“A tough one to get through,” said Davenport, who faces 62nd-ranked Shinobu Asagoe for a semifinal berth. “I wanted to win so badly, and I played such a great, calm match until that point, and then let a few errors creep in.”
She and Amelie Mauresmo both have a chance to replace Henin-Hardenne at No. 1 after the Belgian’s 6-3, 6-2 loss to No. 14 Petrova. Henin-Hardenne was betrayed by her best shot, the backhand, which she flubbed on the final point of the first set and the final points in each game when she was broken twice in the second set.
Henin-Hardenne, who returned from nearly three months off with a viral infection to win an Olympic gold medal, totaled 30 unforced errors.
That still wasn’t as many as Williams, who since playing her first Slam in 1997, never had gone an entire season without reaching at least one major semifinal. She hurt herself with 42 miscues, mostly off forehands and more than double Davenport’s count.
Another big-name showdown is looming in the men’s quarterfinals: Andre Agassi vs. Roger Federer. Agassi advanced Monday with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over pal and occasional practice partner Sargis Sargsian, who was on court for nearly 10 hours in his previous two outings. This one took 90 minutes.
Federer’s opponent, No. 16 Andrei Pavel, pulled out with a bad back.
“There’s nothing more you ask for than to play a big event against the best player in this environment,” Agassi said. “It’s time to bring the best tennis.”
In mixed doubles, Martina Navratilova, into the doubles quarterfinals with Lisa Raymond, paired with Leander Paes to defeat Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and Max Mirnyi 6-4, 6-4.
Mary Pierce, who beat Sharapova in singles, lost to No. 9 Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Asagoe upset No. 29 Eleni Daniilidou 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3, making her the lowest-ranked Open quarterfinalist since Williams was 66th in her 1997 debut.